SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Disney and LucasFilms will reportedly use computer generated imagery to digitally recreate Grand Moff Tarkin, the character Peter Cushing played in Star Wars back in 1977. Cushing died at age 81 in 1994:
A source told the Daily Mail that Disney and LucasFilms are using CGI to bring Grand Moff Tarkin back to life for the spin-off film which is centred on a back story about Darth Vader.
Cushing starred in many of the Hammer Horror films with Christopher Lee, including Dracula and Dr Frankenstein. He also appeared in two Doctor Who films, based on the BBC sci-fi series.
CGI technicians have been particularly challenged in recreating his legs and feet, because they never appeared on camera in the original film. As his character was a Galactic Imperial officer, his uniform included tight riding boots, which Cushing complained were uncomfortable. So director George Lucas gave him permission to wear slippers and instructed the camera operators to only film him from above the knees. Original footage is vital in the process of computer generating real people, to ensure that it appears as accurate as possible.
With the power of CGI, Tarkin/Cushing can be made to leap over railings, dodge blaster fire in mid-air, and high five Jar Jar Binks.
Original Submission
(Score: 2, Insightful) by pinchy on Thursday August 27 2015, @11:13PM
Pretty soon the actors wont have jobs anymore hehe
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2015, @01:07AM
It would be an improvement for some lame actors, like Tom woosie Cruise.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Tork on Friday August 28 2015, @03:03AM
Okay I stepped a little outside the bounds of performances there, but yeah, automation's not killing acting.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 4, Interesting) by deimtee on Friday August 28 2015, @08:27AM
I bet they are keeping all the raw motion cap info. (Or, if not now, then soon). Then, when the software gets good enough, you will be able to create a movie by giving the computer a script and a motion cap library.
It will give you a list of scenes/actions it doesn't have yet, which you will motion cap (using cheap actors/stunt people) and add to the library.
At the same time the programs will be getting better at extrapolating and modifying so you will need less and less of this.
Eventually, no jobs for actors, while all the dead greats from the past star in movie after movie.
The hard part, for a while, will be getting believable voices.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Friday August 28 2015, @02:51PM
Even if a magic 'give me a realistic mocap stitch' button ever did exist, that still only accounts for a portion of what you see in a scene. No, acting will never be obsolete, just like cameras failed to make painting obsolete.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday August 29 2015, @08:04AM
Currently, it is all human controlled, computer assisted. You're right that they will need actors for a while.
But what about when you start applying Watson level semantic understanding to the computers? Movie budgets of hundreds of megabucks allow for that.
Options like;
- have the computer create mo-cap from past film. If it gets smart enough, it won't need the ping-pong balls.
- Even before that, have Amazons mechanical turk apply virtual ping-pong balls to existing existing film - Mo-Cap of Fred and Ginger dancing!
... and the tools to modify them have never been better.
But they will never be worse than they are now, and the libraries will never be smaller.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday August 29 2015, @05:24PM
If you really think computers will ever be able to do what will draw people to see a show try watching Whose Line is it Anyway some time.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩